The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) has launched a new fund to support entrepreneurs using renewable energies in Burkina Faso and Mali to launch new activities or to diversify existing ones.

1.2 million US dollars to unleash the potential of renewable energies and generate new business opportunities in Burkina Faso and Mali.

Businesses in Burkina Faso and Mali have the opportunity to apply for funding to strengthen their market preparation for promising innovations, as well as to obtain financial, technical and networking support to scale up existing and proven prototypes.

The innovation support fund builds on AECF's REACT initiative, which was launched to help the private sector develop and extend its clean energy technologies to rural communities in Africa.
For the Director General of the AECF, Victoria Sabula, the innovation support fund is essential to promote large-scale transformation within local communities. “Investing in affordable and accessible renewable energy solutions creates jobs, develops economies, and creates more sustainable livelihoods. Through this fund, we hope to find new ways to use renewable technologies to generate income and create jobs,” she added

The fund will invest in technologies that meet market needs, while accelerating the development of existing solutions to better serve African communities, not prototype-based technologies. It will also be launched in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique and Zimbabwe

About AECF

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) (www.AECFAfrica.org) is a leading development organization that helps businesses innovate, create jobs, and take advantage of investments to boost resilience and sustainable income generation in rural and marginalized communities in Africa. Launched in 2008, AECF has invested in 292 companies across more than 40 value chains and 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The AECF focuses specifically on agribusiness, renewable energies, and climate technologies, while addressing cross-cutting themes of gender, youth, and fragile contexts. In just over a decade, the AECF has impacted the lives of over 27.7 million people, created nearly 24,000 jobs, and mobilized over 740 million US dollars in